In almost every cop movie, the bad guys are former or current cops, is that all major crime works in the real world?
Triple 9 is a crime drama with an all-star cast that takes place in Atlanta. The simple plot of the movie is Michael Belmont, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, is hired to do a job for the Russian mob. With the help of Russell Welch (Norman Reedus), Russell's brother, Gabe (Aaron Paul), and two cops, Marcus Atwood (Anthony Mackie) and Franco Rodriguez (Clifton Collins, Jr), Michael does the job. The only problem is now the Russian mob, led by Irina (Kate Winslet), now wants him to do another job. He would love to not do the job, but he has a child with Irina's sister, Elena (Gal Gadot), and the only way he will see is son again is if he does the job. The job requires him to break into a government building and steal documents that will help Irina's husband be released from a Russian prison. To break into this building Michael decides they need to create a distraction that would cause all cops in the area to go to another part of the city, far away from the building. Marcus decides that the best distraction would be a Triple 9 aka officer down. Marcus nominates his partner, Chris Allen (Casey Affleck), to be the cop that they take down. Soon the pressure starts to mount on Michael. The group starts to fight amongst themselves and their own moral code starts to weigh on them.
I thought Triple 9 was a lot of fun. The performances in this movie were fantastic. I am really starting to enjoy seeing movies with Casey Affleck. I feel that he is fully out of his big brother's shadow. I thought the action in this movie was excellent. I was on the edge of my seat during the beginning heist scene. There are also some great chase scenes. I enjoyed all the twist and turns that take place. They may not have had me fully questioning what was going to happen, but I enjoyed watching them play out.
The main thing I didn't like about Triple 9 was the Russian mob. I felt like Kate Winslet was miscast. She is a great actress but she didn't feel right in this role. Plus her Russian accent wasn't that great. They could have used a different plot device that would force Michael to have to complete these jobs. The cops, Marcus and Chris, are part of the gang unit, they could have used a local gang that were forcing Michael to do the jobs. Woody Harrelson also felt out of place in this movie. In all his movies now he just seems like this eccentric drugged up character. I would like to seem him do something new.
Triple 9 exceeded all my expectations for it. I had a fun time watching it. The action was great and the performances were outstanding. I was on the edge of my seat with every twist and turn. I think this movie you can wait to see once it's available to rent and you won't be disappointed.
3 1/2 Stars
Sunday, February 28, 2016
Race Review
The movie Race is a lot like the events Jesse Owens competed in, it is a fun time while watching but once it's over it's on to the next event.
Race is a sports biopic about African American athlete Jesse Owens, played by Stephan James, who won four medals at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. The movie starts out right when Jesse is heading off to Ohio State University for college. The coach at OSU is Larry Snyder, played by Jason Sudeikis. Larry was once a great runner himself but has been struggling as a coach. When Larry sees Jesse running he immediately knows his luck has changed. Larry knows that Jesse is a natural talent and has a chance to succeed at every level, especially at the Olympics. The only problem is that the next Olympic Games takes place in Berlin, Germany, during the Nazi regime. The US Olympic Committee debated whether or not they should pull out of the games. Jesse must also decide if he should participate because him attending the games was more than just about competing. It was about sticking it to Hitler and the Nazi regime.
Overall Race was a decent movie. I was entertained by the story. I enjoyed learning about this moment in history. The performances were fantastic, especially Stephan James and Jason Sudeikis. Seeing Jason Sudeikis in a more serious role was delightful. I was surprised to see Jeremy Irons and William Hurt in the movie. I just don't feel like the movie brought anything new to the genre. It is a pretty by the numbers sports biopic. Athlete thrives early on to acclaim, meets some adversity that he must overcome, then overcomes that adversity and wins the day. I never really felt emotionally involved in the film. Nothing Jesse went through made me upset or extremely excited. The events Jesse competed in were quick so the action during the competitions were over in less than a minute.
Race is a decent sports biopic that doesn't do much to change the game, but does provide a nice history lesson about one of this nations greatest athletes of all time. I think it is worth a watch if you are interested in learning more about Olympic history.
3 1/2 Stars
Race is a sports biopic about African American athlete Jesse Owens, played by Stephan James, who won four medals at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. The movie starts out right when Jesse is heading off to Ohio State University for college. The coach at OSU is Larry Snyder, played by Jason Sudeikis. Larry was once a great runner himself but has been struggling as a coach. When Larry sees Jesse running he immediately knows his luck has changed. Larry knows that Jesse is a natural talent and has a chance to succeed at every level, especially at the Olympics. The only problem is that the next Olympic Games takes place in Berlin, Germany, during the Nazi regime. The US Olympic Committee debated whether or not they should pull out of the games. Jesse must also decide if he should participate because him attending the games was more than just about competing. It was about sticking it to Hitler and the Nazi regime.
Overall Race was a decent movie. I was entertained by the story. I enjoyed learning about this moment in history. The performances were fantastic, especially Stephan James and Jason Sudeikis. Seeing Jason Sudeikis in a more serious role was delightful. I was surprised to see Jeremy Irons and William Hurt in the movie. I just don't feel like the movie brought anything new to the genre. It is a pretty by the numbers sports biopic. Athlete thrives early on to acclaim, meets some adversity that he must overcome, then overcomes that adversity and wins the day. I never really felt emotionally involved in the film. Nothing Jesse went through made me upset or extremely excited. The events Jesse competed in were quick so the action during the competitions were over in less than a minute.
Race is a decent sports biopic that doesn't do much to change the game, but does provide a nice history lesson about one of this nations greatest athletes of all time. I think it is worth a watch if you are interested in learning more about Olympic history.
3 1/2 Stars
Predictions for the 2016 Academy Award
Here are my predictions for the 2016 Academy Awards that take place tonight
Best Picture: The Revenant (wouldn't be surprised if Spotlight won)
Actor in a Leading Role: Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Actress in a Leading Role: Brie Larson, Room
Actor in a Supporting Role: Sylvester Stallone, Creed
Actress in a Supporting Role: Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Animated Feature Film: Inside Out
Cinematography: The Revenant
Costume Design: Cinderella
Directing: The Revenant
Documentary Feature: Amy
Documentary Short Subject: Body Team 12
Film Editing: Mad Max: Fury Road
Foreign Language Film: Son of Saul
Makeup and Hairstyling: Mad Max: Fury Road
Original Score: The Hateful Eight
Original Song: Til It Happens To You: The Hunting Ground
Production Design: Mad Max: Fury Road
Animated Short Film: Bear Story
Live Action Short Film: Shok
Sound Editing: Mad Max: Fury Road
Sound Mixing: Mad Max: Fury Road
Visual Effects: Mad Max: Fury Road
Adapted Screenplay: The Big Short
Original Screenplay: Spotlight
Best Picture: The Revenant (wouldn't be surprised if Spotlight won)
Actor in a Leading Role: Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Actress in a Leading Role: Brie Larson, Room
Actor in a Supporting Role: Sylvester Stallone, Creed
Actress in a Supporting Role: Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Animated Feature Film: Inside Out
Cinematography: The Revenant
Costume Design: Cinderella
Directing: The Revenant
Documentary Feature: Amy
Documentary Short Subject: Body Team 12
Film Editing: Mad Max: Fury Road
Foreign Language Film: Son of Saul
Makeup and Hairstyling: Mad Max: Fury Road
Original Score: The Hateful Eight
Original Song: Til It Happens To You: The Hunting Ground
Production Design: Mad Max: Fury Road
Animated Short Film: Bear Story
Live Action Short Film: Shok
Sound Editing: Mad Max: Fury Road
Sound Mixing: Mad Max: Fury Road
Visual Effects: Mad Max: Fury Road
Adapted Screenplay: The Big Short
Original Screenplay: Spotlight
Sunday, February 21, 2016
The Witch Review
I don't care how much you pay me, but after seeing The Witch I am never buying a cabin in the woods or getting a goat. No way, no how!
The Witch is a movie about an English family living in New England that leaves their plantation due to a disagreement about religious beliefs. The father, William, and his wife, Katherine and four kids: Thomasin, Caleb, and twins Mercy and Jonas move to the edge of a forest to start a new life. While living near the forest, they build a cabin and start a farm and have a fifth child, Samuel. One day Thomasin, the eldest daughter, is watching Samuel. While playing peek-a-boo, Samuel suddenly vanishes. Thomasin briefly sees some grass and branches move so she can only assume that whatever took Samuel, went into the forest. Once Samuel goes missing, strange things start happening around the family farm, including Caleb suddenly going missing. As time goes on tension starts to mount among the family members because they don't know what happened to Samuel or Caleb. Were they taken by a wolf or something much, much worse?
What really worked for me with The Witch was the way the director built up the tension. Some times it would be the intense film score that would just get under your skin with its haunting strings. Other times it was just the way the scenes were shot. The camera would just linger on one thing and you never knew what was going to happen. While watching the movie my body would just get tighter and tighter during scenes and then they would just end only to have it start all over again with the next scene.
The performances and dialog were also spectacular in The Witch. The twins, Mercy and Jonas, were exactly what you thought two little kids on a farm would be like, cute and curious about all things but also absolutely annoying at times. They also may have been the creepiest twins in a movie since The Shining. The father, William, struggles with trying to keep his families faith up while their farm struggles to survive as well as the disappearance of his kids. In every scene you can see the anguish on his face and you can tell it is weighing him down. The true star of the film though is Thomasin. She constantly sees her parents struggling to deal with the loss of their youngest child while trying to manage four other kids. At night she hears her parents arguing and contemplating selling her to help on another farm. She also has to deal with the burden of being the one who was last with Samuel before he disappeared. Another standout performance is Black Philip the goat. When you watch the movie you just feel that something is not quite right with that goat. The dialog in the film was Old English and really helped bring you into the atmosphere of life on a farm in 17th Century New England.
If I had to find one thing to complain about with The Witch, it would have to be the ending. I feel like the movie should have ended about 5 minutes sooner and it would have left the audience discussing what they think actually happened to this family. The ending shows just a bit too much and kind of takes away from the tone of the film up until that point.
Overall I thought The Witch was fantastic. My body was constantly tightening up in anticipation of what was going to happen. There were multiple times where I wanted to look away from the screen in fear but couldn't because I wanted to see what was going to happen. The film score, the performances, and the direction were all spectacular and helped create one of the most stressful movie experiences I have ever had. If you like horror movies that don't need gore and jump scares to cause the audience to be afraid, then The Witch is for you.
4 Stars
Saturday, February 13, 2016
Deadpool Review
The last time we saw Deadpool on the big screen was in 2009 in the absolutely horrible X-Men Origins: Wolverine. For the past 7 years fans of the comic book antihero have been dying to see Deadpool portrayed correctly in a movie. With Ryan Reynolds playing Deadpool once again I think it's safe to say the fans are probably happy.
Deadpool is about a mercenary named Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) who meets the love of his life Vanessa (Morena Baccarin). Shortly after proposing to Vanessa, Wade discovers he has late stage cancer in multiple vital organs. A stranger tells Wade that he has a way to cure him and give him a new life. Wade agrees and the affects of the procedure makes him immortal. Wade doesn't like the way the procedure made him look so he goes after a mutant named Ajax who said he can reverse the affects of the procedure and restore his original looks. The problem is that Ajax isn't exactly the nicest mutant around. Wade decides to go under the name Deadpool and teams up with other mutants, Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead.
With a movie like Deadpool there is so much to say, I don't know where to start. First off this movie is not like any comic book movie before it. It is brutal, obscene, violent, disturbing and absolutely hilarious. This may be one of the funniest movies I have seen in a long time. What makes Deadpool so funny is that it doesn't take itself too seriously and it knows what it is, a comic book movie. Right from the opening title sequence the laughs immediately start rolling and they hardly let up. I don't want to give any spoilers, but just make sure you pay attention during the opening title scene. Deadpool also does a fantastic job making fun of other comic book movies, including ones Ryan Reynolds has starred in.
The action in Deadpool is insane. This movie is extremely violent and over the top and I loved every minute of it. There is one scene where Deadpool decapitates a guy and then kicks the head like a soccer ball and knocks out another guy. I wish I could tell you about other scenes, but you should just go see the movie. You won't believe what you are seeing.
Deadpool is a comic book movie that is nothing like those that have come before it. It is violent, insane, over the top and down right hilarious. Deadpool is a movie that needs to be seen in theaters. This is a movie that is going to set the standard for comic book movies in the future. Let's just hope Hollywood pays attention and let's them be made.
4 1/2 Stars
Deadpool is about a mercenary named Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) who meets the love of his life Vanessa (Morena Baccarin). Shortly after proposing to Vanessa, Wade discovers he has late stage cancer in multiple vital organs. A stranger tells Wade that he has a way to cure him and give him a new life. Wade agrees and the affects of the procedure makes him immortal. Wade doesn't like the way the procedure made him look so he goes after a mutant named Ajax who said he can reverse the affects of the procedure and restore his original looks. The problem is that Ajax isn't exactly the nicest mutant around. Wade decides to go under the name Deadpool and teams up with other mutants, Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead.
With a movie like Deadpool there is so much to say, I don't know where to start. First off this movie is not like any comic book movie before it. It is brutal, obscene, violent, disturbing and absolutely hilarious. This may be one of the funniest movies I have seen in a long time. What makes Deadpool so funny is that it doesn't take itself too seriously and it knows what it is, a comic book movie. Right from the opening title sequence the laughs immediately start rolling and they hardly let up. I don't want to give any spoilers, but just make sure you pay attention during the opening title scene. Deadpool also does a fantastic job making fun of other comic book movies, including ones Ryan Reynolds has starred in.
The action in Deadpool is insane. This movie is extremely violent and over the top and I loved every minute of it. There is one scene where Deadpool decapitates a guy and then kicks the head like a soccer ball and knocks out another guy. I wish I could tell you about other scenes, but you should just go see the movie. You won't believe what you are seeing.
Deadpool is a comic book movie that is nothing like those that have come before it. It is violent, insane, over the top and down right hilarious. Deadpool is a movie that needs to be seen in theaters. This is a movie that is going to set the standard for comic book movies in the future. Let's just hope Hollywood pays attention and let's them be made.
4 1/2 Stars
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Eddie the Eagle Review
We've all seen inspirational sports movies involving football, basketball, baseball and hockey, and now we've got one involving America's favorite past time, ski jumping! Okay so maybe ski jumping isn't a sport on a lot of peoples radar, but the movie Eddie the Eagle is pretty inspirational.
Eddie the Eagle tells the true story of Eddie Edwards (Taron Egerton), a British skier in the 1980s who decided he wanted to be that countries first Olympic ski jumper since the 1920s. The problem was that he was not very good and Great Britain's Olympic committee thought he was a disgrace to the country. Eddie's live long dream has been to be an Olympic athlete so he decides to train on his own and qualify for the Olympics. While training he catches the eye of Bronson Peary (Hugh Jackman) who tells Eddie he is nuts and is going to get himself killed. Eddie doesn't let that stop him and he just keeps working at it. Bronson soon becomes willing to help train Eddie just because Bronson sees how determined Eddie is at achieving his life long goal of being an Olympic athlete.
The most enjoyable thing about Eddie the Eagle is just how positive and inspirational it is. Eddie is constantly having people, including his own father, telling him he won't ever make it and he should just give up. Eddie never second guesses himself, he is 100% positive he can achieve his goal no matter what gets in his way. In the last scene of the movie, you are sitting there sitting on pins and needles wondering will Eddie achieve his goal and prove people wrong. The performances by Taron and Hugh were great. They both seemed like they enjoyed this project and were passionate about telling the story.
The main negative about Eddie the Eagle is that it plays it pretty safe. The movie doesn't take any challenges that make it stand out above other sports movies like Hoosiers, Rudy and Rocky. It doesn't show us anything we haven't seen a million times before other than being an unconventional sport to most Americans. Also some of the special effects when the ski jumping was taking place was pretty distracting because of how bad it looked.
Eddie the Eagle is a fun and inspirational sports film that we have seen before just with a different setting. It's entertaining and you will enjoy watching it but you will probably not need to see it revisit it once you have seen it.
3 1/2 Stars
Eddie the Eagle tells the true story of Eddie Edwards (Taron Egerton), a British skier in the 1980s who decided he wanted to be that countries first Olympic ski jumper since the 1920s. The problem was that he was not very good and Great Britain's Olympic committee thought he was a disgrace to the country. Eddie's live long dream has been to be an Olympic athlete so he decides to train on his own and qualify for the Olympics. While training he catches the eye of Bronson Peary (Hugh Jackman) who tells Eddie he is nuts and is going to get himself killed. Eddie doesn't let that stop him and he just keeps working at it. Bronson soon becomes willing to help train Eddie just because Bronson sees how determined Eddie is at achieving his life long goal of being an Olympic athlete.
The most enjoyable thing about Eddie the Eagle is just how positive and inspirational it is. Eddie is constantly having people, including his own father, telling him he won't ever make it and he should just give up. Eddie never second guesses himself, he is 100% positive he can achieve his goal no matter what gets in his way. In the last scene of the movie, you are sitting there sitting on pins and needles wondering will Eddie achieve his goal and prove people wrong. The performances by Taron and Hugh were great. They both seemed like they enjoyed this project and were passionate about telling the story.
The main negative about Eddie the Eagle is that it plays it pretty safe. The movie doesn't take any challenges that make it stand out above other sports movies like Hoosiers, Rudy and Rocky. It doesn't show us anything we haven't seen a million times before other than being an unconventional sport to most Americans. Also some of the special effects when the ski jumping was taking place was pretty distracting because of how bad it looked.
Eddie the Eagle is a fun and inspirational sports film that we have seen before just with a different setting. It's entertaining and you will enjoy watching it but you will probably not need to see it revisit it once you have seen it.
3 1/2 Stars
Pride & Prejudice & Zombies Review
I never would have thought when the year started, that a movie based on a book that is a zombie parody of a classic novel (that has also been made into numerous movies), would actually be pretty entertaining, but Pride & Prejudice & Zombies proved me wrong.
The simple way to summarize Pride & Prejudice & Zombies would be to say take the story of Pride & Prejudice and just throw some zombies in every now and then. The fun part about the story though is that it's not just some zombie epidemic that has suddenly struck England and no one knows what to do. The zombie apocalypse has actually been going on for a while now and the characters are actually trained to fight and protect themselves. It was enjoyable to watch the main character, Elizabeth Bennet (Lily James), take pride in her zombie training skills and not care about finding a husband.
I am not extremely familiar with the story of Pride & Prejudice. I've only seen the Keira Knightley movie a couple of times, so I can't say how true Pride & Prejudice & Zombies stays to the themes of the original. I do wish, though, that there was a little less Pride & Prejudice romance and a little more zombie action. Also I felt that Lena Headey was pretty much wasted in this movie. Her character is set up to be this awesome zombie killing legend, but she never shows her skills on screen.
I don't really know what to say about Pride & Prejudice & Zombies. I feel like it did what it was made to do, just be a silly zombie movie parody of a classic romance novel. It's not going to win any major critical awards and won't go down in the history books. I was entertained for 90 minutes and sometimes that's all that matters.
3 Stars
The simple way to summarize Pride & Prejudice & Zombies would be to say take the story of Pride & Prejudice and just throw some zombies in every now and then. The fun part about the story though is that it's not just some zombie epidemic that has suddenly struck England and no one knows what to do. The zombie apocalypse has actually been going on for a while now and the characters are actually trained to fight and protect themselves. It was enjoyable to watch the main character, Elizabeth Bennet (Lily James), take pride in her zombie training skills and not care about finding a husband.
I am not extremely familiar with the story of Pride & Prejudice. I've only seen the Keira Knightley movie a couple of times, so I can't say how true Pride & Prejudice & Zombies stays to the themes of the original. I do wish, though, that there was a little less Pride & Prejudice romance and a little more zombie action. Also I felt that Lena Headey was pretty much wasted in this movie. Her character is set up to be this awesome zombie killing legend, but she never shows her skills on screen.
I don't really know what to say about Pride & Prejudice & Zombies. I feel like it did what it was made to do, just be a silly zombie movie parody of a classic romance novel. It's not going to win any major critical awards and won't go down in the history books. I was entertained for 90 minutes and sometimes that's all that matters.
3 Stars
Hail, Caesar! Review
Hail, Caesar! is the Coen Brothers love letter to 50's Hollywood that I just did not love or even enjoy for that matter.
Hail, Caesar! is a movie about Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin), who is the head of production at Capital Pictures, and what he has to deal with while trying to get movies made. The main marketing of Hail, Caesar! shows that Eddie must deal with his lead actor, Baird Whitlock (George Clooney), being kidnapped and held for ransom, but that't not all that takes place. He has a type casted actor that struggles when they try to make him branch out into different roles; an actress who's image they are trying to keep clean once she becomes pregnant; and journalists who are trying to get dirt on a scandal taking place at the studio.
What I liked about Hail, Caesar! was the characters. I thought they were all unique and brought a certain flare to the movie. The actors playing this characters did a fantastic job bringing them to life and making them enjoyable. The main highlight of the film was Channing Tatum's characters song and dance.
I may have enjoyed the characters in Hail, Caesar! but the story in which they take place in was boring. I didn't care about what they were doing on screen. They all seemed like fun and interesting people, but they were never given time to grow and develop. I think there was just too many people. I would have enjoyed it more if the Coen Brothers had just focused on one, maybe two, of the characters storylines and just gave the audience more time and information about them. There are people in this movie that you see their entire screen time in the trailer. If you can fit their entire storyline into a 90 second trailer, why have them in the film at all?
I was really looking forward to Hail, Caesar!. I really enjoy a lot of the Coen Brothers other films but this one was all over the place with it's story. Outside of Eddie, you never spend a lot of time with all the other characters even though the actors make you want to. I found myself completely bored and looking forward to the movie ending. Hail, Caesar! was a huge disappointment.
2 1/2 Stars
Hail, Caesar! is a movie about Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin), who is the head of production at Capital Pictures, and what he has to deal with while trying to get movies made. The main marketing of Hail, Caesar! shows that Eddie must deal with his lead actor, Baird Whitlock (George Clooney), being kidnapped and held for ransom, but that't not all that takes place. He has a type casted actor that struggles when they try to make him branch out into different roles; an actress who's image they are trying to keep clean once she becomes pregnant; and journalists who are trying to get dirt on a scandal taking place at the studio.
What I liked about Hail, Caesar! was the characters. I thought they were all unique and brought a certain flare to the movie. The actors playing this characters did a fantastic job bringing them to life and making them enjoyable. The main highlight of the film was Channing Tatum's characters song and dance.
I may have enjoyed the characters in Hail, Caesar! but the story in which they take place in was boring. I didn't care about what they were doing on screen. They all seemed like fun and interesting people, but they were never given time to grow and develop. I think there was just too many people. I would have enjoyed it more if the Coen Brothers had just focused on one, maybe two, of the characters storylines and just gave the audience more time and information about them. There are people in this movie that you see their entire screen time in the trailer. If you can fit their entire storyline into a 90 second trailer, why have them in the film at all?
I was really looking forward to Hail, Caesar!. I really enjoy a lot of the Coen Brothers other films but this one was all over the place with it's story. Outside of Eddie, you never spend a lot of time with all the other characters even though the actors make you want to. I found myself completely bored and looking forward to the movie ending. Hail, Caesar! was a huge disappointment.
2 1/2 Stars
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